Great production

Hamlet: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition

The Folger Shakespeare Library, home to the world’s largest Shakespeare collection, brings Hamlet to life with this new full-length, full-cast dramatic recording of its definitive Folger Edition....

It's worth listening to.

By
maggie
on
04-18-16

Murphy

By:
Samuel Beckett

Narrated by:
Stephen Hogan

Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins

Unabridged

Overall

7

Performance

7

Story

6

Murphy's work-shy eponymous hero, adrift in London, realises that desire can never be satisfied and withdraws from life, in search of stupor....

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

By:
James Joyce

Narrated by:
Michael Orenstein

Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins

Unabridged

Overall

148

Performance

131

Story

130

The intellectual and religio-philosophical awakening of young Stephen Dedalus as he begins to question and rebel against the Catholic and Irish conventions with which he has been raised....

it is a well written book.

By
David Siebert
on
11-02-16

The George Bernard Shaw Collection

By:
George Bernard Shaw

Narrated by:
Shirley Knight,
Anne Heche,
JoBeth Williams,
and others

Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins

Original Recording

Overall

91

Performance

76

Story

78

Eight of George Bernard Shaw's most memorable plays in one splendid collection....

Impressive Collection of Shaw

By
Michael
on
10-04-12

Ulysses

By:
James Joyce

Narrated by:
Jim Norton

Length: 27 hrs and 16 mins

Unabridged

Overall

1,336

Performance

1,006

Story

985

Ulysses is regarded by many as the single most important novel of the 20th century....

Ulysses (Unabridged)

By
Peter Deane
on
01-22-09

Publisher's Summary

There is now no doubt that not only is Waiting for Godot the outstanding play of the 20th century, but it is also Samuel Beckett's masterpiece. Yet it is both a popular text to be studied at school and an enigma. The scene is a country road. There is a solitary tree. It is evening. Two tramp-like figures, Vladimir and Estragon, exchange words. Pull off boots. Munch a root vegetable. Two other curious characters enter. And a boy. Time passes. It is all strange yet familiar. Waiting for Godot casts its spell as powerfully in this audiobook recording as it does on stage.

And I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this audiobook version. The British actors, Sean Barrett, David Burke, Terence Rigby, and Nigel Anthony, are excellent, bringing Beckett's text and characters alive with wit, heart, and perfect timing. The two friends Estragon and Vladimir are an appealing pair of morosely and stubbornly heroic fools: ever waiting in the wasteland for the never appearing Godot, ever complaining about and attempting to understand their situation, never mustering the courage to escape it, repeatedly forgetting their past, playing off each other's words like suicidal comedians, sometimes arguing, and often treating each other with moving affection. There is something strangely comforting about their never-ending failures. As if an adult Charlie Brown were living with Eeyore instead of Snoopy. Pozzo and Lucky, the foil-pair of Estragon and Vladimir, are morbidly fascinating in their abusive master-slave relationship.

Here are a few of the many great moments in the audiobook: when Lucky "thinks," when Estragon and Vladimir pass their hats and Lucky's back and forth between them, when the boy angel delivers his messages (that Godot will surely come tomorrow!), when Estragon and Vladimir "abuse" each other and then make up, when Estragon and Vladimir debate helping Pozzo up, and when Pozzo makes his woeful speech, "They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it's night once more."

Waiting for Godot (like any play), of course, is a visual work of art best experienced performed live on stage. However, if you are unable to see it like that, listening to this audiobook would be the next best thing, and a wonderful experience in itself.

The best. Period.

I know no other play to be better than this. I enjoyed reading it so much in high school, that I jumped at the occasion to take it with me wherever I go. This tragicomedy is a must for every person, everywhere!

Maybe better as a viewed play

Maybe I am just a philistine but just to listen to this play; I haven't read it or watched it yet. But just to listen to this play didn't really spellbound me.
It was a little tedious to wait w/ the characters, well voiced as they were. This just didn't do it for me.

Captivating performance

I bought this for the simple reason that I needed to read it for one of my classes. I find reading plays dull and unenjoyable, so I figured this would be a better option. Although I haven't finished it yet, I am extremely impressed by the narration. I feel like I am watching a play! Audible is my new favorite app.

Absurdity, wit and the human condition

I have recently discovered Beckett. At first I excepted not to like his plays much, perhaps because I thought he would a bit too minimalist and avant-garde for me. I was pleasantly surprised, however, that his poetic use of words, wit and subtle existential humor suited my taste perfectly. Waiting for Godot is now one of my favorite plays, and even though some of the more visual comic effects get somewhat lost in a recording, this audio-version of the play still does it great justice. I also liked that it comes with a PDF with some interesting background of the play. Highly recommended.

Pretentious

I am probably just an ignorant philistine but I thought this was dreadful. If this is the outstanding play of the 20th century then I at least have a clearer understandng of why I seldom visit the theatre. I am sure that it is, at some existential level, trying to tell me something but any work of literature that needs a seperate work to explain what it is trying to say has failed as far as I am concerned. For me the only compensation was that it was only 2 hours long but I would still rather have my 2 hours back please.

11 of 31 people found this review helpful

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Gryfynn

01-21-17

In a word, Brilliant

If you could sum up Waiting for Godot in three words, what would they be?

sorrowful, hopeful, amusing

Who was your favorite character and why?

It's a tough choice, but I have to go with Vladimir. Sean Barrett's performance was exceptional, and of all the characters in the play I found Vladimir to be the most complex and interesting. He's both capable of fits of near rage and moments of gentle tenderness towards others. I felt he was also the one who understood his situation most, hense his despair at the end of the play. That never fails to break my heart.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

I love the back and forth chatter between Vladimir and estragon, but my absolute favourite scene is the one where they stage an argument with each other and then stage a makeup. Estragon's line 'Crritic!' and Vladimir's hurt reaction to it is my favourite in the entire play and the way the scene is delivered here is, in my mind, exactly how it should be.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It needs to be. It's a play, so it's not meant to be divided up into several sittings.

Any additional comments?

This is by far the best edition of Waiting for Godot I have heard, and adapting it for a purely audio setting must not have been easy. It's even better than the 2001 film.The actors stick almost exclusively to Beckett's original text, with a few small changes made to offset the fact that you can't see what the characters are doing. The only scene where I had any complaint was during Lucky's speech. There are stage directions that go with it, to show how the characters react, but obviously this wasn't doable, and it does detract a little. This play was so beautifully done and each actor played their part flawlessly. I wish I had been able to hear it when I was studying this for drama in highschool. I would have gained a much greater understanding of Beckett's work.

Overall

Performance

Story

Mark Turgid

07-07-16

Above average performance

Occasionally the main two actors hit the wrong notes but this version was well-produced and would serve as a fine introduction to the text.

Overall

Performance

Story

Paul Snook

03-11-16

A Walk On The Absurd Side

I imagine that anyone who is interested in Waiting For Godot will be familiar with the oft quoted review by Vivian Mercier; "...a play in which nothing happens, twice.”

I am in the process of listening to this over and over again as I will shortly be playing Vladimir in a local production and am using this as an 'aide-memoire'.

This particular production works well and is eminently listenable. If I have one criticism it is that the character voices of Vladimir and Estragon in this production are crudely similar which, with no visual clues to guide, can lead to occasional confusion as to who is who though, in the context of the play, this is hardly important!

Recommended.

Overall

Performance

Story

ReadingWild

01-09-15

Stay go leave stay...it's all the same

It's brilliance is well known, it's subjects deep and absurd. The performance is great and subtle, it's waiting for Godot.

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Performance

Story

Fusgus

12-13-16

was that it?

Can't abide dramatisations of books! all the characterisation was highly distracting I had hoped to get the point of the story but just turned off.